THE aWAYkening

Acts 2
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common

Doesn’t this passage remind you of a conference? I can just picture it.

Join us in Jerusalem for

THE aWAYkening

Keynote Speaker: Barnabas

You are sure to be blessed by the dynamic teaching of some of the most influential leaders of Christ’s followers as they present powerful messages on topics such as:

• Sharing the Gospel: How to tell your family and friends that Jesus really is the Messiah and He has forgiven them for the whole crucifixion thing.
• The Holy Spirit: How the apostles are doing all these miracles. There will be a live demonstration.
• Building a Strong Church: How to develop close relations within the church body. Includes specific instruction on feeding widows fairly and using CraigsScroll to sell personal items, such real estate, in order to distribute money to needy church members.
• The Martyr’s Speech: How to prepare a powerful gospel message to have ready for your “last words” before you are stoned, crucified, or otherwise put to death for the sake of Christ.

One of the most important parts of THE aWAYkening is the close-knit community that evolves during the conference. All attendees are encouraged to stay near the conference site so that you may participate in communal meals and times of devotion and prayer.

For those who cannot personally attend the conference, Timothy of Challies, one of today’s foremost Christ-following scribes, will be live scribing the event. You can access his scrolls by taking the road to Internetia.

The training provided by THE aWAYkening is intense, emotional, and unparalleled. After the conference, each attendee is fully prepared to be run out of town and go into the world, preaching the gospel to all people groups.

Keep moving forward

Does anyone else out there live their life from one event to the next?

This month has been so busy with big things all over the calendar. K's softball tournament, church picnic, last-minute trip to Texas, She Speaks, L's first dance recital, family visiting here, getting the girls off with family, birthday party, baby shower. I've been surviving by focusing on only the next thing because the sheer magnitude of everything was overwhelming.

The biggest event, a mother/daughter tea baby shower I coordinated and hosted, was today. It turned out beautifully, but I'm so glad it's over and not hanging over my head. I was constantly worried about the food, how many people would actually come, and "shouldn't I be doing something to get ready?" all the time.

I gave myself the rest of the day off. Well, actually, a severe allergic reaction and lots of Benadryl pretty much mandated the rest of the day off. I was relaxing and trying not to think about everything that needs to be done this week. However, the girls called and the first thing each of them asked is how was the work going on redecorating their rooms.

I just can't catch a break.

Tomorrow it's back to my project to clean(out) L's room and change a few things so it looks redecorated. Then I've got to dig out the camping gear and make sure it's all in working order before we head to Texas on Friday. Somewhere in there I need to coordinate with my lead teacher for China Camp and help her with lessons and make sure they even received the girls' applications for camp. Then there's the writing stuff I want to/need to work on and the school decisions that have to made about the upcoming school year.

Wait, tomorrow's Sunday and I do truly need a Sabbath.

All that stuff can wait for Monday.

A post just for K

Here you go, K, a sneak peek at what your room looks like so far...

I took the flower decals off the front of your cabinet and replaced them with flipflops made from scrapbook paper and foam flowers and leaves. I also put all your earrings in your butterfly holder neatly. Please try to keep them that way.

I hope you like the new sheets as much as Tinker (our cat, for those not in the know). She's being taking naps up there lately. I love the flowers I found to go around your lamp. By the way, do you want to keep the Cars poster or put up the beach picture I drew for Grandma?

I put all your trophies on the shelf and found a way to display your FIRST PLACE tournament medal. I even hung up your team photo. I know they're missing you at the summer practices, but you'll be home soon to join them.

Did I tell you what a great job you did on your CAT test? Your scores came back and they are fabulous. Your lowest score was spelling and your best was social studies, but you did very well overall.

I miss you girls lots. It's been way too quiet here and I haven't had an excuse to go to the pool since you left. Just one week from now and Dad and I will be pulling into Grandad's driveway, ready to see you.

I can't wait!

A Psalm by K

As you know, I'm still stuck in K's room cleaning and redecorating. Today, one task was to clean off the old bulletin boards that will be going to L's room and putting some of in up on the new bulletin board. One thing she had posted was a psalm she wrote for CBS last year. I read it again and was amazed by her beautiful use of metaphor (it brought a tear to this former English teacher's eye) as well as the simplicity, wisdom, succinctness, and understanding of a 7-year-old.

A Psalm
by K

My Lord, My God,
You have left my sins behind;
You have also taken Satan and put him behind,
But you raise me up so high,
I land near the front.

WFMW: Easy, cheap DIY decor for the kids' rooms

Since my kids are off at Camp Grandma for a few weeks, I'm taking the opportunity to clean, purge, rearrange, and redo their rooms. I've gotten a good start on K's and I wanted to show off the really cool decor idea I came up with.

K is getting a tropical theme in her room because Grandma has some stuff from VBS that she said we could have (I love my mom). Since the stuff is still in Texas and is currently decorating a tiki hut classroom, I can't show you the finished product yet, but I can show you what I've been doing to supplement the VBS stuff. And you'll love it because it's *cheap* and all it takes is a little time and a little creativity.

First we have this:

It's a plain cork bulletin board from The Wal-Marts and a yard of fabric - I got mine off the clearance shelf. Using your staple gun...

What? You don't have a staple gun? Go get one! It's cheap and very helpful around the house.

As I was saying, using your staple gun, fold the fabric edges under and tack it down all the way around the board. Don't forget to pull the fabric gently to smooth it and work from the center out along each side. In the picture, you can see the faint outline where the fabric is tucked under, but you can't see it just looking at the board on the wall.

So now we have a neat bulletin board with a swirly blue print that looks like water. After we get back next month, that will have these flower lights wrapped around the frame. For now, you'll just have to imagine it.

Second we have this:

Aren't these cool? I cut the shapes out of foam board and painted them with kid paint from Crayola. The shapes are basic and easy to make, then you get to be creative on the painting. I got the wood look on the board by painting it brown, then immediately painting it over with yellow, then adding some rust red color in spots immediately over that. The colors will blend and just be kinda sloppy and streaky with it. On the surf boards, you can be elaborate like the flowers or very basic like the stripes. Attach it to the wall with some tiny nails and voila! Even if you think it's sloppy or not as perfect as it ought to be, your kids will love it and think it looks cool, especially if it's personalized.

I'm still working on the surround sound system that will play Disney's "Tiki tiki tiki tiki room" song.

For more Works For Me Wednesday posts, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

All my new BFFs from SheSpeaks

Have you ever been so stinkin' excited about something that you hop out of bed early, rush through your morning routine, and discover that it's way too early to leave yet? Then you decide to go ahead and leave anyway?

Friday morning, I got to the hotel very, very early for SheSpeaks. So I wandered upstairs where I met Carrie McGinty of P31 and had a great conversation about publisher appointments (she was headed to one).

I then wandered downstairs to the lobby and happened upon a conversation *about me* where I met Emily and Amy Jo talking about Chinese adoption. We started a great conversation, then took it over to Chick-Fil-A to keep it going. Why Chick-Fil-A? Because Amy Jo had never had Chick-Fil-A. And get this.

You will gasp in horror when you read it.

Amy Jo had never tasted sweet tea.

Heavens!!

But she is from the northwest, so it's understandable. Thankfully she liked it.

I had to race out of CFA to head to Chili's for lunch with some of the bloggers. And I met...

Robin - who is tiny as a toothpick with a personality that will fill up a room. She is a blast!

LisaB - who is totally comfortable in her skin and I love that she rides a Harley. I'm also supremely jealous of her shopping trip with Sheri, another new BFF.

Dawn - the ultra-talented web designer of some of my favorite blog looks. BTW, Dawn, after Mr. at Home worked on my blog, he said you don't charge nearly enough!

Back at the actual, you know, conference, we stood around watching people coming in, trying to identify people from their blog pictures. As Robin said, it was like Hollywood for bloggers.

At the bloggers' reception, I met Big Mama and BooMama because I caught them standing alone for a moment and pounced. I will tell you they are exactly like they write. Melanie is tall, model-thin with great hair and fabulous fashion sense and I absolutely *loved* Sophie's southern accent! A few minutes later, I met Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer, but I didn't recognize her even though I've seen pictures. She is tiny and cheerleader cute and a blast to talk to and shop with, trotting through the mall in search of flip-flops.

As I was talking to Marybeth, she introduced me to Megan, who was my editor for my story in I'm Glad I'm a Mom! I almost started singing "You are the wind beneath my wings", but I decided to just talk to her instead. I'm sure she's thanking her lucky stars.

At a table in the hall, I met Emily who has the most fabulous haircut ever and she was such fun to spend time with. She was in my peer critique group and is a wonderful writer.

At dinner, I met Fawn, who had great hair and the gumption to rent an RV and drive halfway across the US with her mom and 5 kids (only 3 were hers) for the conference, and Christie who is such a practical, encouraging person. I loved them!

There was Jo-Lynne who helped me get tickets to Sheri's "fashion show" by telling Sheri we wanted to go, which prompted Sheri to stop me in the hall and tell me that there were 3 tickets waiting for us at the desk - woohoo! Then I had to track Jo-Lynne all the way around the hotel to give her her ticket.

I spent Saturday night's bloggy buddies dinner across from Sarah and enjoyed just talking about cooking and acting and blogging. She gave me a yummy looking recipe that I think I may be cooking tomorrow night.

One of my most exciting moments was when I headed to Lisa's car to go to dinner Saturday night and I caught a glimpse of a name tag that read "It Coulda Been Worse". I almost fell over, "You're DEEDEE!?!?" I think I scared her. But hers was the second blog I ever read and I totally heart her blog. Trust me, she is just as fun in person.

Since this is getting long and Mr. at Home will be "at Home" soon and wanting dinner, I am cutting it off. There are a ton more people that I met and loved and drew encouragement from and I miss you all already!

It has taken me all day to sit down and write this post

Why has it taken all day to sit myself down and write this post?

Reason #1

Because I slept until 10:30.

10:30!!!

And that was even after an indecently long nap yesterday afternoon. SheSpeaks is a fabulous, wonderful, life-changing event, but life-changing can be exhausting.

Reason #2

Mr. at Home called and invited me to lunch. And I wasn't about to miss a lunch date with the coolest guy on the planet so I could write a post.

Reason #3

Right in the middle of that lunch date, the facility that I reserved for a baby shower this weekend (my apartment complex clubhouse) called. You see, they're just not sure if the renovations are going to be complete by Saturday and could we maybe just move it to the theater room?

Ya'll, it almost turned me into a cursing woman.

After an hour or so, a few phone calls, and plenty of tongue-biting, we've gotten things kinda rearranged so they might work. We'll just have to see if the "kinda" and "might" turn into something a little more definite and we get this mother/daughter tea pulled off.

You know, after all that, I'm going to take a break, go do some laundry, and come back and have 2 fabulous posts ready for you about what a fabulous weekend I had and all the fabulous women I met and all the fabulous things I learned.

It'll be fabulous.